I was in a meeting this week, and the person leading the meeting opened and closed with these two prayer/poems. I found them so helpful. The election is over now, but you may still be feeling anxiety about the state of our world. I know I am! So, I wanted to share these two prayer/poems that I found helpful, in the hopes that they will help you, also.

Fran

 

The first prayer/poem is by Steve Garnaas-Holmes, and can be found at Unfolding Light. The scripture verse at the beginning is taken from the Gospel appointed for this Sunday (11/13/22).
           “As for these things that you see,
           the days will come
           when not one stone will be left upon another;
           all will be thrown down.”
                           —Luke 21.6

On the eve of//day after a precipitous election
I hear these words with renewed attention.
The destruction of the temple. A changed world.
A dangerous world. The loss of what we count on.
“Wars and insurrections…nation against nation..
arrest and persecution…” “This,” Jesus says,
“will give you an opportunity to testify.”
When things get dark and dangerous
we shine with light. We speak the truth.
We embody resurrection. We bear witness.
Not just with slogans, but with our lives.
Lives lived in subversive love,
with traitorous gentleness and radical courage
in countercultural forgiveness and illegal mercy.
The Empires of this world will always oppose
the Empire of God. Always. But our true belonging,
is in that Realm of Love; and it is eternal.
In the spirit of the Crucified and Risen One,
who is with us always,
we will persist.

 

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This second prayer/poem comes from Maya Angelou:

Father, Mother God,

Thank you for your presence

during the hard and mean days.

For then we have you to lean upon.

 

Thank you for your presence

during the bright and sunny days,

for then we can share that which we have

with those who have less.

 

And thank you for your presence

during the Holy Days, for then we are able

to celebrate you and our families

and our friends.

 

For those who have no voice,

we ask you to speak.

 

For those who feel unworthy,

we ask you to pour your love out

in waterfalls of tenderness.

 

For those who live in pain,

we ask you to bathe them

in the river of your healing.

 

For those who are lonely, we ask

you to keep them company.

 

For those who are depressed,

we ask you to shower upon them

the light of hope.

 

Dear Creator, You, the borderless

sea of substance, we ask you to give all the

world that which we need most — Peace.